ACL tears

[pantherdad]

SORRY ABOUT THE ACL. OUR DAUGHTER TORE HER IN SOCCER AS A CONDITIONING SPORT. SHE WAS A SOFTBALL PITCHER. WE HAD HER SURGERY ON OCT 31 2002. WE HAD HER REHAB BACK AND PITCHING BY FEB 2003. ST. MARYS IN KNOXVILLE/ KNOXVILLE ORTH WITH DR. MATHIEN. SHE DID WELL WITH THE SURGERY.

REHAB WAS DONE IN CROSSVILLE AT CMC. MAKING SURE YOU DO THE EXERCISE FAITHFULLY AND DOING IT EVERY DAY. SOMETIMES WITH TEENAGERS IT HARD TO GET THEM TO DO IT. WE MADE HER WALK SLOWLY

BACKWARDS ON THE TREADMILL, ON THE EXERCISE BIKE, FLOOR EXERCISES... HER PITCHING INVOLVED HER

STEPPING/ STRIDING ALOT. THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE IS THEY OVERCOME THE FEAR OF HURTING IT AGAIN AND AS A PARENT WORRYING ABOUT IT. I ALWAYS SAY NOT THE KNEE!!!NOT THE KNEE... ESP IF SHE WAS RUNNING A BASE. WE HAVE HAD OTHER INJURIES BROKEN NOSE, ORBITAL FRACTURE OF EYE AREA, AND KNEE. BUT THE KNEE IS WORSE THAN A BROKEN BONE. GOOD LUCK... REHAB, REAHB, REHAB!!!

[Bri]

My niece stretched her ACL her senior year in high school. Rehabbed, then tore it her freshman year in college & redshirted. She's finally back playing, and is just now coming out of the mental part of it. The beginning of this year had been really hard on her. We've gone to see her & just kept talking to her. She was physically okay before she was mentally okay. It takes time but just keep encouraging her .

[John73]

Here is what I would say do you are going to be out 6 Months....do the rehab and exactly as the Doc and Athletic Trainer tell you to do all the exercises at home but what you can do to improve your game is form shooting and weight training the the parts of the body that isn't hurt. Another thing if surgery is a little way off try to work out the injured leg under the supervision of your trainer or PT to get the leg ready for the rehab after the surgery. Talk to your trainer before doing any of this so U don't make a mistake.

[lilc3]

I hate to hear it lilc3. My daughter tore hers last week. Surgery scheduled for mid-January.

 

It's the pits to lose the season.

 

Best of luck to you for a speedy and complete recovery.

 

Maybe you and my daughter can exchange emails during the rehab process.

 

thank you all so much. and i'd love to exchange emails with your daughter. I'm not looking forward to it very much, but i'm having surgery the week after Christmas i think. Hope to be playing by july. What all do they do in post-surgery rehab? And whats the best kind of replacement.... Donor tissue, or using your own to graft it back together?

[lilc3]

The information and opinions expressed by me are my experiences that worked best for my daughter's ACL. Please do your research and see what fits best for your situation. She tore her ACL last February 2008, had surgery in March, and came back in November 2008. As everyone has posted, perform your home exercises and do exactly what therapist requests. You need to research the timeframe of coming back from this injury. Most people have the notion that 6 months is the majic rehab time. My doctor's research studies show that those that come back in 4 to 6 months are 3 times more likely to tear their ACL again. These latest statistics shown to me suggest 8 to 9 months as the timeframe to rehab before attempting to comeback. This will give a much lower percentage of recurring injury. It was tough for my daughter to sit out this summer for Exposure events, but now seeing her have an extra 2-1/2 months of agressive rehab therapy, has shown a major beneficial difference in her physical and mental abilities.

 

One of my most important learning experiences in all of this is Core Training Exercises. Trent Nessler is an Aggressive Physical Therapist at Baptist Sports Medicine. He rehabbed these Core Training Exercises which gives support in the important areas where many injuries occur. My daughter came back faster and more agile than she was before injury last February. You can go to www.aclprogram.com to learn these exercises and the research behind them. Dr. Damon Petty performed my daughter's surgery and he is out of Baptist Hospital in Nashville. Also has 2nd office in Lebanon called TN Orthopedics. He studied under Dr. Andrews in Birmingham that treats many Pro and college athletes. I hope your child has a complete and speedy recovery.

 

thank you puma. i'll look into the site you gave me. sounds good to me. and yes, my doctor told me six months at the earliest. i also play volleyball so i hope to be back for jump training mid summer.... too soon?

[worden55]

thank you all so much. and i'd love to exchange emails with your daughter. I'm not looking forward to it very much, but i'm having surgery the week after Christmas i think. Hope to be playing by july. What all do they do in post-surgery rehab? And whats the best kind of replacement.... Donor tissue, or using your own to graft it back together?

 

 

 

 

my opinion only, but I think the soft tissue graft from the hamstring is the best, healing time is good and has worked out good for all those that I know that used the soft tissue. Hope you don't rush it though, maybe shoot for late august. Again, only my opinion. But best wishes, I can tell you are going to come out strong because of the way you are handling it, again best to you.

[fiftyfifty]

Anyone have any advice for someone who's madly in love with basketball just tore their ACL??? it would be much appriciated. Out for 6 months.... Junior guard. looking at surgery soon. Anything i need to know about the surgery or rehab..... let me know. PLEASE

 

We had some conversations last year. Sorry to hear about your injury. You had enough advice on what to do with that. My advice is this is also an excellant time to up those grade averages. How bout it. /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[CDL]

lilc3, you can email her at dwl@mscabletv.net. Her name is Sara.

 

Her doctor (with Knox. Ortho. Clinic) actually wants her to do some therapy prior to surgery. She goes this afternoon for her first visit.

[PHargis]

my opinion only, but I think the soft tissue graft from the hamstring is the best, healing time is good and has worked out good for all those that I know that used the soft tissue. Hope you don't rush it though, maybe shoot for late august. Again, only my opinion. But best wishes, I can tell you are going to come out strong because of the way you are handling it, again best to you.

55 has some good advice but the Dr. will give you some advice or most will. Certainly the soft graft from the ham will take two surgery's healing which sounds bad but really is not but the Doctor can explain it to you and your parents. Good Luck

[lilc3]

We had some conversations last year. Sorry to hear about your injury. You had enough advice on what to do with that. My advice is this is also an excellant time to up those grade averages. How bout it. /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

 

hey stbulldog, and yes i remeber our conversations.... thanks for your concern. i'm still hoping to play in college but the chances are getting slimmer now because of the ACL. i'm still gunna fight for it though=) and as far as my grade averages... they are doing pretty well. As far as i know i havfe A's and B's. had to put alot of extra time into it this year.

[ksgovols]

My niece stretched her ACL her senior year in high school. Rehabbed, then tore it her freshman year in college & redshirted. She's finally back playing, and is just now coming out of the mental part of it. The beginning of this year had been really hard on her. We've gone to see her & just kept talking to her. She was physically okay before she was mentally okay. It takes time but just keep encouraging her .

 

 

I had a similar 'stretched ACL' diagnosis with my left knee after it was scoped 25 years ago. Tore the meniscus in the right a few years later and a different orthopaedic surgeon questioned how 'loose' my left knee was. Had another problem with the left 2 years ago and the MRI indicated that the ACL was gone. Not torn, disintegrated. The Vandy sports surgeon told me that there really isn't such a thing as a 'stretched' ACL. It was a partial tear most likely that should have been repaired at the time. I suppose there are degrees of partial tears, but I don't recall any further injury. The good news is that I didn't really miss it. My knee was more or less stable for what I did, which was not basketball or football mind you. It's a fairly common injury these days and not as difficult to properly diagnose and treat as it was before MRI's and ligament graphs.

 

We had a girl last year that came back from an ACL in 4 months, though she was not 100%, she made it through her senior year. I agree that the mental part of rehab is just as important as the physical rehab.

 

Good luck with it.

[lilc3]

lilc3, you can email her at dwl@mscabletv.net. Her name is Sara.

 

Her doctor (with Knox. Ortho. Clinic) actually wants her to do some therapy prior to surgery. She goes this afternoon for her first visit.

 

Yes i am doing a bunch of that right now as well. i go on wednesday for an MRI to check my meniscus status and make sure no other damage was done. then on the 30th i go to schedule surgery (which will probably be in the same week). i'll be sure to email her. Mabe we can help eachother some how.